A 107-year-old Butterworth woman said she had nothing left to live for and was just waiting to die as the house official promised to build her two years ago had never materialised.
Buyiswa Jojozi from Bhungeni informal settlement is still living in the temporary shelter erected for her in 2011 after bulldozers destroyed the informal settlement where she lived.
Jojozi said although she and the other members of her community had lived in shacks, they had been “home”.
The elderly woman was one of hundreds of people left homeless after they were moved to make way for a multimillion-rand shopping mall.
A local ward councillor called for patience from residents.
Bhungeni councillor Tobeka Bikitsha of Mnquma local municipality said attempts were still being made to secure land for the displaced residents.
“Yes, I can confirm that their situation is terribly bad as that place is not fit for humans,” he said. “At that time we had no choice but to put them there.
“We are working hard to get land for them.”
In March 2011 the Daily Dispatch reported on how Jojozi and 2 000 other residents had to suffer the trauma and indignity of being removed from their shacks.
They claimed they were moved without notice to make way for the development of a new mall along the N2.
The Dispatch documented how Jojozi, then 104, spent a cold night in the open, looking after the few belongings she managed to salvage before bulldozers flattened her shack.
The Presidency, followed by the provincial department of human settlements, intervened and erected 300 temporary structures for the displaced residents.
Promises were made that new homes would be built, but three years down the line, nothing has happened.
In November 2011 a good Samaritan built a brick and mortar home for Jojozi on a vacant piece of property along the N2 outside Butterworth.
However, the house was isolated and, fearing for her safety, she declined to occupy it.
This week, Jojozi was one of several residents who took the decision to go back and occupy the land from which they were forcibly removed.
“I called that shack my home. The land is still empty. Where is the mall? Why is the government not building us homes there?”
But Bikitsha warned the community they could not return. “They can’t go back to that land; that land is privately owned,” she said.
Displaced 107-year-old gives up hope of having a home
Buyiswa Jojozi from Bhungeni informal settlement is still living in the temporary shelter erected for her in 2011 after bulldozers destroyed the informal settlement where she lived.
Jojozi said although she and the other members of her community had lived in shacks, they had been “home”.
The elderly woman was one of hundreds of people left homeless after they were moved to make way for a multimillion-rand shopping mall.
A local ward councillor called for patience from residents.
Bhungeni councillor Tobeka Bikitsha of Mnquma local municipality said attempts were still being made to secure land for the displaced residents.
“Yes, I can confirm that their situation is terribly bad as that place is not fit for humans,” he said. “At that time we had no choice but to put them there.
“We are working hard to get land for them.”
In March 2011 the Daily Dispatch reported on how Jojozi and 2 000 other residents had to suffer the trauma and indignity of being removed from their shacks.
They claimed they were moved without notice to make way for the development of a new mall along the N2.
The Dispatch documented how Jojozi, then 104, spent a cold night in the open, looking after the few belongings she managed to salvage before bulldozers flattened her shack.
The Presidency, followed by the provincial department of human settlements, intervened and erected 300 temporary structures for the displaced residents.
Promises were made that new homes would be built, but three years down the line, nothing has happened.
In November 2011 a good Samaritan built a brick and mortar home for Jojozi on a vacant piece of property along the N2 outside Butterworth.
However, the house was isolated and, fearing for her safety, she declined to occupy it.
This week, Jojozi was one of several residents who took the decision to go back and occupy the land from which they were forcibly removed.
“I called that shack my home. The land is still empty. Where is the mall? Why is the government not building us homes there?”
But Bikitsha warned the community they could not return. “They can’t go back to that land; that land is privately owned,” she said.
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